Wire-stretcher.



No. 642,259. Patented Jan. 30, 1900. H. F. RUBLE & J. W. GUILL.

WIRE STHETGHER.

(Application filed Aug. 25, 1899.) (N0 ModeL) 2 Sheets-Sheet I.

No. $42,259. Patented Jan. 30, I900. H. F. RUBLE 81. J. W. GUILL.

WIRE STRETCHER.

(Application filed Aug. 26, 1899.)

(No Model.)

2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Sterne I IEISRON F. RUBLE AND JOHN WV. GUILL, OF FULTON, KANSAS.

WiRE-STRETCHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 642,259, dated January 30, 1900.

Application filed August 25, 1899. $erial No. 728,514. (No model.)

To (tZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that we, HEBRON F. RUBLE and JOHN W. GUILL, citizens of the United States, residing at Fulton, in the county of Bourbon and State of Kansas, have invented a new and useful Wire-Stretcher, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to improvements in wire-stretchers.

The object of the present invention is to improve the construction of wire-stretchers and to provide a simple, inexpensive, and efficient device adapted to operate on both smooth and barbed wire and capable of stretching the same to take up the slack in a fence and also capable of stretching wires and of holding the same while they are stapled or otherwise secured to a fence-post in constructing wire fences.

-A further object of the invention is to provide a device of this character which will be self-supporting and which will enable both hands of an operator to be free for securing or otherwise operating on a fence-wire.

The invention consists in the construction and novel combination and arrangement of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and pointed out in the claims hereto appended.

In the drawings, Figure l is a perspectiveview of a wire-stretcher constructed in accordance with this invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, illustrating the manner of stretching a smooth fence-wire. Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating the manner of stretching a barbed wire around a fencepost. Fig. a is a similar view illustrating another application of the invention. Fig. 5 is a plan view of the same.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawin gs.

1 designates a bar provided at one end with a handle and having a head 2 at its other end extending in opposite directions and having head, with a transversely-disposed hook having an engaging outer portion and provided with a shank which maybe secured to the bar by any suitable means or formed integral therewith, as desired. In stretching a smooth fence-wire for stapling the same to a fence-post the bar is operated as illustrated in Fig. 2 of the accompanying drawings and the wire 5 is engaged by the claw 4t and is arranged within the transversely-disposed bill of the hook t, the other end of the head being fulcrumed on the post 6 and being partially embedded therein. The wire may be drawn to the desired tension, and the wirestretcher will be self-supporting in this position, so that both hands of the operator will be free for stapling or otherwise operating on the wire. lVhen the wire is stretched in this manner, it is not twisted and its strength is not impaired.

The shank of the bar is provided at one side with an arm 7, arranged at right angles to it, and provided between its ends with a projection or lug S. This arm is adapted to be engaged by a hook 9 of a rod 10, which when the device is arranged,as shown in Fig. 3,for tight ening a barbed wire is passed around the fence-post back of the fence and is engaged with the wire 11 at a point adjacent to the post. The rod is provided at its outer end with a hook 12, and the bar is fulcrumed on the post in the same manner as before described by engaging the pointed end of the head with the post. The bar is adapted to draw the wire around the post,and it is capable of holding the said wire while it is being secured.

The bar is provided at one of its edges with a series of teeth 13, and it has perforations 14E adapted to receive a pin 15, which is pr0- vided at one end with a head and which is designed to be driven into a post to support the device thereon. The pin 15 is removably arranged in one of the perforations 14, and in the use of the device when the same is fulcrumed on a post at a point between the head 2 and the arm 7 the pin may be employed to support the device in such position. The teeth 13 are adapted, as illustrated in Fig. i of the accompanying drawings, to engage a fence-wire, and the barbs thereof will prevent the wire from slipping through the recesses formed by the teeth. The lever is fulcrumed on the post at a point between the teeth and-the head, and it will enable the Wire to be stretched to the desired tension, and after the operation of stretching has been completed the head of the lever is engaged with the fence-wire, as clearly shown in Fig. 4, whereby it is supported while the wire is being stapled or otherwise secured to the fence-post. The wire is drawn around the front of the post. The lever extends across the back of the post when it is in the position shown in Fig. 4:, and the arm '7 extends across the post and engages the Wire. This arm 7 is adapted during the operation of stretching the Wire to prevent the same from binding against the post, whereby the wire is caused to slide freely over the same. The hook 9 of the rod 10 may also be engaged with the teeth 13, and the claw of the pin may bedriven across a wire to hold the same While setting the device for stretching the wire a second time. The head of the lever is provided with a lug 16, which is adapted to be used as an anvil and which may be hammered on without injuring the device.

It will be seen that the device is exceedingly simple and inexpensive in construction, that it is positive and reliable in operation, and that it affords a convenient tool for stretching fence-wires in different positions. It will also be apparent that the device is self-supporting, in order to leave the hands of the operator free for stapling or otherwise operating on a fence-wire,and that the pointed end of the head may be readily engaged with the staple for extracting the same.

Changes in the form, proportion, size, and the minor details of construction within the scope of the appended claims may be, resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacrificing any of the advantages of this invention.

What is claimed is- 1. A device of the class described comprising a .bar, a head rigid with and extending from the bar in opposite directions, one end of the head forming a fulcrum and the other end being provided with a claw, and a hook extending from the bar at the same side as the claw at a point adjacent to the same and provided with a transversely-disposed bill and adapted to engage a wire when the same is drawn over the head whereby the wire may be held without twisting it, substantially as described.

2. A device of the class described comprising a bar, a head arranged at one end of the bar and extending therefrom at right angles thereto and adapted to engage a fence-post at one side to form a fulcrum, an arm extending from the bar at a point between the ends thereof and arranged at right angles to the plane of the head, and a rod detachably hinged to the arm and adapted to be arranged at the opposite side of the post from the head and provided at its outer end with means for engaging a fence-wire, whereby the device is adapted to hold a fence-Wire and is self-supporting, substantially as described.

3. A device of the class described comprising-a bar provided with a head adapted to form a fulcrum, a hook projecting from the bar and located adjacent to the head, an arm extending from the bar and arranged between the ends thereof, and a rod detachably e11- gaging the arm, substantially as described.

4. A device of the class described comprising a bar provided with a head extending from the bar in opposite directions, said bar having a perforation, a pin extending through the perforation, a hook projecting from the bar, an arm rigid with and carried by the bar, and a rod detachably engaging the arm and adapted to engage the fence-wire, substantially as described.

5. A device of the class described comprising a bar provided between its ends with a notch and adapted to be fulcrumed on a post at a point between the notch and its outer end, said notch being adapted to engage a fence-wire at one side of the post, and a head rigid with and projecting from the outer end of the bar and arranged to engage a fencewire at the opposite side of the post, whereby the bar will be supported in such position and the wire will be held, substantially as described. Y

6. A device of the class described, comprising a lever or bar provided at one end witha head and having a notch or tooth located at a point between its ends, said bar or lever being adapted to be fulcrumed on a post between the notch ortooth and the head, and an arm extending from the bar or lever. and located at a point between the notch or tooth and the head and adapted to engage the fencewire to cause the same to slide freely across a post, substantially as described.

'In testimony that we claim the foregoing as our own we have hereto affixed out signatures in the presence of two witnesses.

HEBRON F. RUBLE. JOHN W. GUILL.

WVitnesses:

FRED MACK, A. W. FELTER. 

